In this heartfelt and enriching episode, explore the life and lessons of Brother Lawrence, whose humble journey from a lay monk to a spiritual figure of profound insight inspires countless believers. Through his disciplined practice of the presence of God, Brother Lawrence demonstrated that life’s simplest tasks can be acts of worship and love. Discover how his legacy continues to influence Christians today, nurturing a mindset of praising God in the mundane and growing spiritually through a continual conversation with the divine.
Welcome to Call to Freedom with Barbara Carmack. This is Jimmy Lakey, and I’m delighted that you are joining us for this half hour. You can reach Call to Freedom at Box 370367, Denver, Colorado, 80237, or by going to the website at www.freedomstreet.org. If you want to leave a message or order a Word Power Daily Reading Bible Guide or a Freedom Street Express newsletter, you can call us toll free at 1-877-917-7256 and leave your name and address including your zip code. If you want to talk to Barbara right now, she is expecting your call. You may call that same toll-free number, 1-877-917-7256 to speak to her. And now, let’s join Barbara in the studio.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to Called Up Freedom. I’m so glad you joined me today. We know that there’s freedom in Jesus Christ. He set us free from the law of sin and death, as John said yesterday on the phone. It’s just so wonderful to know that he has verses for us to know. Just in the middle of the night, I’m waking up and I’m saying, Holy Spirit, are you wanting to tell me something? And he said the words, restore unto me. And I completed that verse, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. And I said, Holy Spirit, you know I’ve been in a battle. And you know that you’re restoring unto me the joy of my salvation. Oh, and renew a right spirit within me. And I said, where is that? Where is that, Holy Spirit? Because you can remember the verse, but sometimes the address is fading away. And he just led me to Psalm 51, David’s prayer after he sinned so greatly. He not only committed adultery, he committed a murder of Uriah, one of his best soldiers. So we know that God is with us wherever we go, and he will guide you always. He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. Remember, as you memorize the Word, as you learn the Word, as you put it down in your heart, when time comes that you really need it, out it comes. I got up out of bed this morning thanking him that he’d given me the wonderful scripture. And I just spent time this morning just talking to him and quoting one scripture after another. Oh, I praise God for the people that went before me. My dad, who had devotions every night. Oh, I praise God for my dad and my mom. Then John came into my life and taught me about love so I could live with Darren for almost 20 years because it was difficult at times. Oh, but God is so good. And Darren, oh my goodness, he taught me so many scriptures. I will be forever blessed and thankful to God for that. Well, I hope you’re having a wonderful day. You are blessed to dispense for in him you live and move and have your being. Thank you for giving to Call to Freedom. It’s been a wonderful adventure and journey. I’m not done yet. And if you would like to listen to previous programs, Kimberly’s on her way. She was just texting me from the panhandle of Oklahoma near Guymon. If some of you have been on the radio on the rodeo circuit, You know that Guymon is a huge rodeo town. You can go to freedomstreet.org to listen to the programs that have gone before previous programs. And on Wednesdays, you’ll usually see Kimberly’s name that she teaches on Wednesdays. So go to www.freedomstreet.org and click on radio shows. Or you can download an app from KLTT and listen anytime. You go to 670kltt.com. And just scroll down. Call to Freedom is there in that list of all of the broadcasters on the radio. So it’s just such a delight to be in this day and age with all this technology. And if you’d like to donate online, you can also go to freedomstreet.org. and click that Donate button. And thank you. So many new ones coming on board. Just hit that Donate button, and you can donate to Call to Freedom. Our memory verse for this week is Galatians 6-9. This is such a good. Do not grow weary. Do not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season, if you don’t faint, you will receive what was promised. I love what the Passion says about what we sow, we reap. If you sow complaining, if you sow poverty, you’re going to reap poverty. So this is a great, great scripture. I’m going to start in the eighth verse of Galatians 6, the whole chapter of Galatians 6. Well, the whole book of Galatians is wonderful. From the Passion Translation, the harvest you reap reveals the seed that was planted. So remember, you’re wanting a harvest, you’ve got to plant seed. If you plant the corrupt seeds of selfishness into this earthly realm, you can expect to experience a harvest of corruption. Did you hear that? If you plant seeds of selfishness, you will get a harvest of corruption. If you plant the good seeds of spirit life, you will reap the beautiful fruits that grow from the everlasting life of the spirit. And that’s why I encourage you to begin to tithe. Tithe is only 10% of what comes into your bank account or under your mattress. It’s only 10%. God is asking for 10% of what you make. And then you know, without a shadow of a doubt, God will supply every need. The ninth verse of Galatians 6 says, And don’t allow yourselves to be weary or disheartened in planting good seed. For the season of reaping the wonderful harvest you planted is coming. It’s coming. Yes, it is. Take advantage of every opportunity to be a blessing to others, especially to our brothers and sisters in the family of faith. Now, yesterday I began telling you about Nicholas Herman, whose monastery name was Brother Lawrence. And I’m going to repeat probably in what I’m talking to you some of the things I told you yesterday. This man was just so full of God. And I believe this is good for some of you. And some of you, when you’re listening to KLT at one o’clock, you’re either eating lunch or you’re jumping in and out of the car or you’re going from one room to another and you might miss something. So I’m just going to repeat some of this. He was a lay monk who served as cook in the monastery of the severe order of descalced Carmelites in Paris, France. Boy, that’s a word. Descalced Carmelites were a sect of severe discipline. In fact, it was so severe that he went barefoot all of his life. And he worked in a cobbler shop repairing sandals. That’s really interesting. And many of his simple writings were later translated, edited, and published as the practice of the presence of God. I talked to Kimberly, and she says, Mom, those last two books are good. But she says, when you go to the original, and she says it’s kind of old English. Kimberly is really educated in that kind of thing, and she loves it. The Old English says, Mom, it is so full, so power packed. So if you have a chance to get the original, the practice of the presence of God is a good deal. Brother Lawrence’s good friend, Joseph de Beaufort, the cardinal of Noalis, sat down with Lawrence. to carry out four separate interviews. He had four separate interviews or what they called conversations in which the lowly kitchen worker expounded on his manner of living and shared his humble spiritual perspectives. After his death, Buford collected as many of Lawrence’s letters and personal writings as his fellow monks could find, along with his own recorded conversations and published these in what is known today as The Practice of the Presence of God, a long-standing Christian classic. Now, I told you yesterday… that Brother Lawrence had an epiphany before he was Brother Lawrence. And I told you yesterday that an epiphany is a moment or a manifestation when an individual gets deep understanding or clarity about something that was previously obscure or confusing. And this can be related to a concept, a solution to a problem, or an aspect of one’s personal life. And here was Brother Lawrence’s epiphany. And I’m sure that some of you have had that moment in your life when you can look back and say, ah, that was life-changing. That was a life-changing moment in my life. I’ve had two or three of them, so I understand this epiphany thing. And here he’s saying, this is his epiphany. One cold winter day while carefully observing a desolate tree deprived of its leaves and fruit, I imagined it waiting soundlessly and patiently for the hopeful return of summer’s bounty. In that seemingly lifeless tree, I saw myself, and all at once I glimpsed for the first time the magnitude of God’s grace, the faithfulness of his love, the perfection of his sovereignty, and the dependability of his providence, God’s boundless provision for me. God was faithful. God is faithful. On the face of it, like the tree, Herman felt that he was dead. But suddenly he understood that the Lord had seasons of life. And yes, friends, seasons awaiting him in the future and seasons awaiting you in your future. Don’t think you’re dead. Don’t think that all of life has gone by you. It hasn’t. And in fact, if you look back at some of the famous people, they did things in their latter life. part of their life. And I’m talking to some of you older brothers and sisters who think that, boy, your life has passed, and now you’re living just social security to social security. And at that moment, Herman’s soul experienced the fact of the truth of God, a love for God that would burn bright for the rest of his days. I know that a friend, well, a friend, he graduated with me. Can you believe this? We graduated from high school 62 years ago. 62 years ago. And he called me today. And he said, well, I always have a big supply of gout and high blood pressure medication. And I said, oh, Cliff, you’re 80 years old. When are you going to pick up a Bible and begin to read it? And he just loves to just not segue at all, just go on to something else like in his shop working or just meeting a friend who he hadn’t seen for a long time. And I said, Cliff, I believe there is still a Bible book house in Greeley at the mall. And I just encourage you to pick up a different translation than the King James Version and begin reading the Psalms and the Proverbs. It will bless you as it has blessed me for thousands, no, no, hundred, no, dozens, dozens of years. And boy, he just didn’t pick up on it. And as I put the phone down, I said, Holy Spirit, I just pray that you will make him hunger and thirst for God. He never has mentioned God in his whole life. And now he’s 80 years old, and all he wants is a big supply of medication on hand. And so today I’ve been praying for Cliff. Praise the Lord. I know that you probably know some Cliffs. Well, here is Brother Lawrence’s fifth letter. During the first 10 years at the monastery, I worried that my walk with the Lord wasn’t good enough because I couldn’t forget my past sins. I felt very guilty when I thought of all the grace God had shown me. During that time, I used to fall off and then get up again. It seemed that everything, even God, was against me and that only faith was on my side. Sometimes I believed I felt this way because I was trying to show at the beginning of my walk the same maturity it had taken other Christian years to achieve. And I really believe some of you have wanted to show brothers and sisters in your congregation or in your fellowship or your Bible study that you’re really growing in the Lord and you’re maturing. Well, it doesn’t happen that way. It really takes a lot of time. Life is a journey. It’s a process. And you don’t become an expert or accomplished without much practice and practice and practice and practice. It’s like taking piano lessons or oboe lessons or trumpet lessons. You’re practicing all the time. He goes on to say, I know that… Let’s see. Let me find my place here. Oh, I know that some of you are listening and have been in that same place as Brother Lawrence. And you’ve worried that your walk hasn’t been good enough for God. It has always been difficult for you to forget your past with all your failure, mistakes and sins that you committed. And I’ve got good news for you. That’s why God has said over and over that he loves you no matter what. Romans 5, 8 tells us God demonstrated his own love toward us. And while we were yet sinners, you were a sinner when Christ died for you. And you may be a sinner still, and Christ died for you. He loves you so much. And all you have to say is, Father, forgive me. I have sinned against you. I want to be born again. I want to be saved. I want to be a child of yours. Oh, fill me with your Holy Spirit. And I believe I’m born again. Oh, that’s such a wonderful confession. Such a wonderful confession. Paul said in Romans 8, 1, there is therefore now, now, now, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. That’s a verse that John brought up when he was on the phone yesterday in the studio. When you are in Christ Jesus, God does not recognize the sin and you don’t experience death or the thought of death any longer. I’m sure that when Brother Lawrence recognized that God’s love is sufficient for any behavior or temptation that would come his way, he was rejoicing in God’s grace. Brother Lawrence goes on to say, I suddenly found myself wholly changed. My soul, which had always been troubled, finally came to rest in a profound inner peace. That’s the presence of Holy Spirit, a peace that cannot be explained. Brother Lawrence cultivated a simple way of God in his daily duties of cooking, cleaning pots and pans, and whatever else he was called upon to do, which he termed practicing the presence of God. Do your daily activities include practicing the presence of God? I know I’m going to say that a lot because I want you to get the book, Practicing the Presence of God. Everything he did, whether it was spiritual devotions, church worship, running errands, counseling and listening to people. No matter how mundane or tedious, Lawrence saw that it was a way of expressing God’s love. Lawrence understood that the attitude and motivation of the heart were keys to experiencing the fullness of God’s presence at all times. Men invent means and methods of viewing God’s love. They learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love. And it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God’s presence. And some of you listening may think it’s impossible to have God in your thoughts all day. It’s not. It’s not impossible. Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him? Lawrence began to view every little detail of his life as vitally important to his God. I began to live as if there were no one save God and me in the world. Oh, that’s a beautiful thought. His exuberance, genuine humility, inner joy and peace attracted people from far and near. Both leaders of the church and common folks sought Lawrence for spiritual guidance and prayer. Just think, he worked in the kitchen for 30 years, folks. Don’t think that your little duty that you have on this earth is little at all. If God has told you to do what you’re doing, it is huge for him. Lawrence goes on to say there is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. Even though he maintained doctrinal orthodoxy, he was a Catholic by his upbringing and the monastery experience. Lawrence’s mystical spirituality earned considerable attention and influence among other Christian sects. For this reason, he’s not been as popular in the Roman Catholic Church. Nevertheless, Lawrence’s writings have inspired millions of Christians over the last four centuries to enter into the discipline of practicing the presence of God in the ordinary business of life. As a result, countless believers have discovered these words of Brother Lawrence to be true. There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. I mean, if you don’t want to talk about God, this book is not for you because it is just unbelievably complete in discovering how to love God and understand be a vital part of him to sum up I’m sure that my soul had been in God for more than 30 years I consider God my king against whom I’ve committed all sorts of crimes confessing my sins to him and asking him to forgive me I place myself in his hands to do whatever he pleases with me. And that goes along with Philippians 2.13. God is at work in me, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. This king, Lawrence goes on, who is full of goodness and mercy, doesn’t punish me. Rather, he embraces me lovingly and invites me to eat at his table. He serves me himself and gives me the keys to his treasury, treating me as his favorite. He converses with me without mentioning either my sins or his forgiveness. My former habits are seemingly forgotten. Oh, praise God. Although I beg him to do whatever he wishes with me, he does nothing but caress and love me. This is what being in his holy presence is like. Oh, it’s wonderful to know him. It’s wonderful to say, my Jesus, I love thee. I know thou art thine. Because all the follies of sin, I resign and I grow closer and closer and closer to him. Here’s Avalon.
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My Jesus, I love thee. I know thou art mine. For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
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My gracious Redeemer, our Savior art Thou. I love thee, my Jesus, tis now.
SPEAKER 03 :
I love thee because thou hast first loved me. And purchased my pot on Calvary’s tree. I love Thee for wearing the thorns. thy brow. Oh, my Savior, if ever I love thee, my Jesus is now. If ever I love my Savior, it is love. If ever I love my Savior, it is love. In mansions of glory, In this delight I’ll ever adore Thee In heaven so bright I’ll sing with the bitter
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if ever i love thee my jesus
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, praise God. My Jesus, I love Thee. I know Thou art mine. What is God looking for? Really, what is our Creator God looking for in mankind? Well, Psalm 51 tells us He’s looking for a contrite and broken heart. He’s looking for a person who is humble in spirit. He’s not looking for a person that’s trying to validate himself every minute of every day. Oh, he wants to be valuable to society. No, he’s not looking for that. And I think that’s why the practice of the presence of God is so popular among people, even today after 400 years, is that Brother Lawrence brought out a characteristic of the true Christian walk. Here’s a quote from him. We can do little things for God. I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of Him, and that done, if there is nothing else to do, I prostrate myself in worship before Him, who has given me grace to work. Afterwards, I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God.” I’ll tell you, when I’m pulling dandelions up in my yard, I’m thanking God. I know they’re beautiful little yellow flowers, and I know I’ve had people tell me you can eat them. But for me, they’ve been a weed. But I thank God. that I have the grace to be able to cultivate and grow the lawn the way he wants it to be grown. And I know that as you realize that God has put you in a position, as small as it is, to glorify his name, as you begin glorifying him and praising him, even if it’s under your breath, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. He’s going to give you that harvest that we’re talking about in Galatians 6, verse 9. Do not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season, if you don’t faint, you will receive what was promised. You will receive a great harvest. Those promises are throughout the word of God for those who are of a humble and a contrite spirit. I hope you’ve enjoyed a little glimpse into the life of Brother Lawrence, Nicholas Herman, who loved God more than anything else in his life. And I think right before Jesus comes again, I believe God is giving a people together who are going to love him no matter what. And they overcame the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, and they didn’t even value their life to the death. Oh, that’s what I’m believing for, friend. I’m believing for that. God bless you. And Kimberly, I’m sure, will be on the air with me tomorrow. God bless you and keep you and take joy.
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In this heartfelt and enriching episode, explore the life and lessons of Brother Lawrence, whose humble journey from a lay monk to a spiritual figure of profound insight inspires countless believers. Through his disciplined practice of the presence of God, Brother Lawrence demonstrated that life’s simplest tasks can be acts of worship and love. Discover how his legacy continues to influence Christians today, nurturing a mindset of praising God in the mundane and growing spiritually through a continual conversation with the divine.
